Texas Hill Country

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Geo: 29.4245, -98.4946

Today we decided to take a day trip to Austin and the Texas Hill Country, which is a scenic area northwest of San Antonio, with highways weaving through small towns and wine country. We left San Antonio at 9 AM and 66 degrees and headed north. The drive to Austin is about an hour and 15 and it is very commercial most of that way. And we took full advantage of the many tangles of raised roadways that I am finding to be very characteristic of Texas…our US government has spent a lot of money in Texas in the past 25 years. (Thank-you Mr. and Mr. Bush.)

We arrived in Austin around 11 AM after taking a short detour to Best Buy. I discovered that I had been using my camera for four days without charging it. After checking Amazon, I found that you can get an adapter for the car that allows you to plug in with a 2-prong plug. So we decided that if Amazon has it, Best Buy must. Well, Amazon's price is $22 and Best Buy's is $55. A bit high for my liking. But after showing the clerk the item on my Iphone, and after he spent 15 minutes doing some research to find a similar item that is sold BY Amazon, (Best Buy matches Amazon) he was able to take $22 off the price. So we bought it. My battery charged up in no time and I was in business again. I am a new fan of Best Buy.

One thing that I noticed today, which has been the case all through the State of Texas, is the absence of most semi's on the road. I didn't miss them until today, but after seeing a train loaded two layers high with containers the size of trailers, it hit me. In 2012 I recall saying in my blog that it seemed to me that the trains are how they move things around in Texas. It is a welcome change to other parts of the country where, at times, we counted about 8 trucks for every car. And these trucks can really ruin your sight-seeing day.

Austin is an amazing city. I had been here several times during my J. Murray Consulting days…I came close to adding the State of Texas to my resume…but never made it downtown since the State offices that I was visiting were out near the airport. The skyline is incredible and one building, the Frost Bank Tower, is absolutely beautiful in an artistic way. Check out the photo. We drove around for quite some time and found our way up to the State Capital building which is very impressive. Unlike many, which are white, this building is a pinkish tan, which seems to be the theme in this part of the state. Many of the stone structures, including the 200 year old Alamo, are of this distinct color, which appears to come from the limestone that is prevalent in this area of Texas. We saw a lot of it this afternoon along the roadside.

After our tour of the city we headed northwest to catch one of the major highways through the Hill Country. On the way, we stopped for lunch at Whataburger, a chain of burger joints we have been seeing a lot of during this trip. I don't know where this chain operates, other than Texas, but I will venture to say that it presents a real challenge to In-and-Out Burgers in California. (Sorry Mouse.)

The drive through Hill Country is a pleasant one. The topography is of rolling hills with open fields of yellow grass and hay, dotted with dark green live oak trees, silver green bushes and low-lying cactus. For one stretch of several miles, we saw quarry after quarry where they were mining limestone…that pinkish tan stuff. We passed through small one-streetlight towns where you could eat at Doc's Fish Camp and Grill or the Double Horn, buy your favorite pick-up (I think everyone in Texas has one), western boots and John Deere tractors.

One of these towns was Johnson City, hometown of LBJ. An inquiry informed us that the town was named after his grandfather. It was nothing that would impress…just an old, run down shabby town in a rural area NW of San Antonio. We did stop here to visit the William & Chris Vineyards, a boutique winery, where we tasted some impressive reds and not-so-impressive whites. We bought 3 bottles of red wine to share with the kids at Thanksgiving.

We then headed back to San Antonio. As each day passes, I am liking Texas a little bit more than the day before. And that is saying a lot, since I liked it before we started this trip. Would I live here? Perhaps. I certainly would consider it.

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Photos

Austin - First Methodist Church
Across the street from the Capitol Building

Comments

[Jan Murray]

Thanks for resending the blog. I have caught up with all your postings. Was very impressed with the scenery and especially the Alamo. Looking forward to more travel.

[Cindy and Jim]

We're enjoying the trip.

[Michelle]

You are experiencing why Austin is rated consistently in the top cities in the US to live. Great city. Too bad you did not get to visit 5th street on a Friday or Saturday night to enjoy the fantastic music scene!